Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

[Oh, right.] Apollonia thought, [Isn't this just like cracking an egg? If you can't find something suitable to crack the eggshell, then just use two eggs to crack it.]

"That makes sense." Shang Luo nodded, "You're not that stupid. A smart IQ can occasionally give you the upper hand."

Phaethon took another sword pill from the house and placed it under the previous one.

"Are you holding it or am I holding it?"

"I'll take it myself. I know my own hands and I won't hit them. But the same may not be true for yours."

The sword pills were neither too big nor too small, just enough for Shangluo to hold two of them in his hands, one above and one below. He placed the sword pills firmly and hammered them hard -

There was a clang.

[Wow! The hammer below went into the ground! ]

Shangluo did not stop, but continued to hammer. The golden elixir hammered into the ground sank deeper and deeper, and even the second one was about to sink in.

Shangluo threw the hammer to the ground:

"So the vise is really important! A fitter without a vise is like a driver without a car! Do you understand what I mean? The vise is really important!"

[The one in there? ]

"The concrete floor is in such a state. Please don't let me try to sharpen the vise inside. The high-end products bought by Jinyiwei seem to be quite expensive. It seems that we have to use extraordinary means today."

He took out the hunter's skinning knife directly from the package.

The power of a true divine weapon cannot be analyzed by Shangluo at his current level of power.

Shangluo put the hunting knife underneath and hit it hard -

[It’s done!] Apollonia said in amazement.

"Did it work?" Phaethon, who was standing next to him, could not see anything because Shang Luo remained in that position. "How did you see that?"

[I feel something pouring in from Shangluo. The consecration was successful!]

"It's physical strength. Or something else." When Shang Luo raised the hammer again, his eyes were filled with astonishment. "It's unbelievable that I would feel tired. It's as if some power has flowed into me."

Above the skinning knife, the light of the sword pill contained everything in the universe, and the whole body was filled with an aura of high spirits.

Chapter 939 Phlogiston

"Are you OK?"

"I have something to do"

[I can feel it too. Although I'm not the one who's tired, I can sense that his body seems to be hollowed out.]

Standing beside him with his hands on his hips, Phaethon asked, "Are you still okay?"

"Of course, how can you say no?"

"No, you see there are 199 more. Can you give me a definite answer?"

[You said this as if you wanted him to go and receive guests.]

"This is a war, not a dinner party." Phaethon said seriously, "The action has already begun. If he can go, he must go. If he can't go, he has to go even if he has to bite the bullet. Because this is his own business."

[Ah, this. The familiar feeling is back. This is the usual Phaethon. This is the usual her.]

"Needless to say, I will continue." Shang Luo looked up at her and said, "Give me a hand."

Shangluo stood up again, holding Phaethon's hand. As soon as he stood firm, his steps were a little unsteady, and Phaethon beside him supported him.

"Are you really drained?" He was so hollow that even Phaethon was surprised.

As a celestial being, Shang Luo's physical state was always energetic. Daily life did not cause any pressure to him at all. Even when he was driving the Colossus and punching Amon Zeus in New Antioch, he was not seen to be so tired.

It seems that what is lost is not just physical strength.

"It feels like my body is being hollowed out - that's the feeling, a very appropriate metaphor." He put one hand on Phaethon's shoulder and the other hand in front of his eyes to look. He even felt that his judgment of the distance was a little flawed.

"So it's not even a loss of strength?"

"I feel that my physical strength in a narrow sense has not changed." Shangluo replied, "I feel 'empty' mentally. It feels like I stayed in bed all night playing games."

After he said this, Phaethon understood.

“Staying up late and lying in bed playing games” contains two elements: staying up late playing games is consuming your energy; lying in bed means your physical strength is recovering.

"I probably know what's going on."

[Yes, I probably guessed it.]

"What?" Both of them knew it, and it seemed that only he didn't know, which made Shangluo a little confused - because usually at times like this, it should be Apollonia who didn't know, not himself.

"Let me put it this way." Phaethon thought for a moment, "When you played Heroes' Ride, did you notice that the mages in it could only cast a limited number of spells between each rest?"

"Ah, I remember, it was called the phlogiston value."

"That's it. In fact, it's a necessary consumable for Roman mystics to cast spells. The amount of phlogiston that each person can provide is limited, so sometimes in order to provide the large amount of phlogiston required for a spell, it is necessary to gather a lot of people for group casting."

"Wait, how do we restore this phlogiston?"

[There is no way to recover.] Apollonia continued, [Only time - meaning, there is no way to instantly recover phlogiston through medicine or other means, you can only gradually increase it as time goes by. However, the recovery speed of phlogiston is controllable. Some people can recover like gallium nitride fast charging, while others can only recover at a trickle.]

"In other words, phlogiston is essentially transformed from the passage of time," Phaethon added. "Any other means that cannot replace the passage of time cannot replenish phlogiston."

"What's the principle?"

"Because of Taiyi. Taiyi God Kronos, the God of Time." Phaethon answered, "This is a supreme god deduced by the mystical school through theory - that is, the mystical school has not actually observed any signs of Taiyi's existence, but it should exist in theory."

"Like the way of heaven?"

"Completely. So alchemy and alchemy are very close in some ways. In the theory of mysticism, the god Kronos is the first driving force of everything and the father of the creator god Phanes."

【It is worth noting that the father-son relationship here is still a metaphor of relative position, not that mysticism really discovered such a father and son. The metaphor is that time is the first cause that drives everything. As time changes, as the years, months and days pass, many mysterious phenomena will be promoted. The most basic of these is the phlogiston value, which will recover with the passage of time. Some magic also needs the astronomical phenomena of the year, month and day to trigger, such as the previously mentioned 'Aotearoa (Mianmian Baiyun Township)', which needs to be aligned like a key at all times to unlock. 】

"Ah," Shang Luo covered his forehead, "So what this means is that if I want to use this magic, I need to restore my phlogiston through the passage of time? Then how fast can my phlogiston be restored?"

[I have recorded it for you. It was when I last examined you through the Lighthouse system. Your phlogiston recovery was at the level of an ordinary person.]

"What's the logic? I'm already in the foundation building stage, and I'm about to reach the golden elixir stage."

[The principles are different. This is something in two different systems - you have not been promoted in the system of mysticism, so the speed of phlogiston recovery has not changed. This does not even have anything to do with you being the King of Rome, because this is a completely personal matter. Even if it is Victoria, her phlogiston recovery speed will not be faster than that of a real magician. ]

Phaethon shook his head. "So this is the trouble with cross-system technology. You have to practice both to use it freely. But then again, 200 heavenly soldiers of this level are still a bit outrageous. Rome has accumulated so many astronauts for so long and has not accumulated many of them. You need 200 of them at once. It is indeed a bit tricky."

"So in this system, is there any way for me to cast the spell as quickly as possible?"

"Yes," Phaethon answered, "It's not that you just need to pay for the phlogiston. The so-called phlogiston, in the final analysis, is a permission - it comes from the spirit world, and is not made of earth, fire, water, and wind, but is made of ether. It must be invited by humans who possess phlogiston before it can obtain a form under the sun. This part is used in the magic, alchemy, and astrology. It is used especially in the magic, because phlogiston is needed to summon the devil."

[By the way, elves cannot use magical powers because they are not recognized by the world and do not have phlogiston value. So when Karin was in New Antioch before, although she could use the forbidden codex, the phlogiston she consumed was Phaethon's phlogiston.]

Chapter 940 Phlogiston Forging

"Then why were you fine at that time?"

"My phlogiston value is quite high, okay?" Phaethon replied, "Even though I was knocked down from the rank of demigod, my past experiences still gave me a lot of blessings - but this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is, why do you think you must hold the Forbidden Codex to cast spells?"

"It can't be that the equipment bar can reduce the cost of casting spells."

"This isn't a game." Phaethon shook his head. "The main reason is that there is a contract in the forbidden code. Summoning a demon usually uses an existing contract, rather than creating one out of thin air. There were no roads in the world, but when more people walked on it, it became a road - and the road you are on now has never been walked before, so it is particularly difficult to walk on."

"Ah," Shangluo covered his forehead, "So after opening up this path, we can continue to optimize it later?"

"You and Victoria agreed to establish a research system so that you can study this matter thoroughly. But until the research is done, it seems that your plan will have to be terminated."

"Maybe not." Shangluo looked at his hands, "I think I can give it a try."

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you going to do?" Phaethon seemed to realize something, "You're not going to forcefully squeeze out your own phlogiston, are you?"

"Will there be any consequences for this?"

"The passage of time is irreplaceable." Phaethon said solemnly, "Using phlogiston by force will drive time to pass through you in a turbocharged manner. You will experience unimaginable pain in a short period of time - it's like not sleeping for a day, a week, or even a month. All the mages who forcibly used great magic died because their lifespans were squeezed out in advance!"

"Don't worry about this for now. I just want to ask, does it have to be done here? Can it be accelerated through the cave?"

"This is the magic of the world. This means that it is bound to the passage of time in this world. The cave is your territory, not Taiyishen's, so if you want to use it, you must go up there yourself - you don't really plan to go up there yourself, do you?"

"Don't underestimate the endurance of a celestial being. Not to mention a week's time passing through my body, even if ten or eight years pass by, there won't be any trace left on me."

[That's true! Those magics that shorten the lifespan of the user won't cause any problems for him. Because as long as the celestial being doesn't want to die and doesn't get tired of living, he won't die.]

"Wait a minute." Shang Luo suddenly remembered, "The Romans are all eager to achieve immortality. Could it be that they have this consideration? The stronger they are, the easier it is to die?"

[This is nothing surprising. One of the leaders of the Guards can be killed by a truck, and powerful mages will look 120 years old when they are in their s and s. This is the status quo of Rome. It is too dangerous to carry extraordinary power in a mortal body. But this power is also coveted, because the golden dawn is just ahead. ]

"But you don't have this problem at all." Phaethon shook his head, "So immortality is really good. This irreversible and terrible price can be taken so lightly - but Shangluo, I have to remind you that although the passage of time will not take your life, the pain caused to you will not be reduced just because you are a celestial being. Are you prepared?"

"It's just staying up all night playing games for a week. Those who play games are all cultivating immortals. Give me an afternoon, and I'll give you 199 miracles."

"Okay. Then you just..." Before she finished speaking, Phaethon suddenly realized something - she turned over and pulled out the Spear of the Apollo that was stuck in the ground beside her, and protected the tired Shangluo behind her.

In a moment, Fu Yuanshan, accompanied by the breeze, suddenly appeared behind them.

Fu Yuanshan looked at the two people, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Well." He touched his head. "Actually, I looked at my watch and saw that the time was almost up, so I planned to take another person away from you, Shangluo, just like I took Xiao Han away. I thought this would give you a sense of crisis - but I also heard what you said just now, and it seems that you don't need me to put more pressure on you."

He looked at Shangluo: "So it's really okay with you, right? You can admit defeat."

"I won't admit defeat." Shang Luo replied, "Since it has been decided that I will be the one to move the hammer, I will do it - and Senior Fu, you don't want me to admit defeat, right?"

"Ha." He smiled. "If I just wanted to win, I should take advantage of the situation and invite Phaethon or someone else to have a meal together. But it's meaningless. I need you to show your strength as a celestial monarch. This is the most important thing. I'm here to help you overcome the calamity, not to be the calamity for you - but, as the saying goes, a thief never leaves empty-handed. I've come here, and I can't go back empty-handed."

"That's great!" Shang Luo regained his spirits in an instant, "Then please help me take Zhu Ling away!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I had an appointment with her to have hotpot tonight. After I'm done with all the hard work, I'm afraid I won't have the energy to eat hotpot. But I already stood her up last time, and it would be really rude not to go this time. So please! Senior Fu, take her away quickly! That way I'll have an excuse not to go."

"You're really going to cause me trouble." He touched the back of his head. "It's not impossible. If I take the princess away directly, I need to ask for permission. But since it's your request, I'll go. That's it."

He checked the time. "But then again, let's forget about it this time. I'll still come back to take someone away in 12 hours. Since it's a fight, let's be serious."

"Come in 12 hours if you dare~"

"Good, good, very energetic." Fu Yuanshan applauded, "Then let me see where Zhu Ling met."

Another gust of breeze blew by, and Fu Yuanshan disappeared again.

[Sure enough, I always feel that he should have some magic weapon. ]

"You see it too?"

[His speed is so fast that it is unreasonable. Even if it is explained by proficiency, it is a stretch. I always feel that Senior Fu has some magic weapon that can make him move faster.]

"Maybe it's true. It seems that the previous situation did not exceed the upper limit of his ability, so other people didn't notice anything. But in the current situation, in order to put pressure on me, he also used some power that exceeded the realm he should have. I just don't know what magic weapon he has."

[Then you should squeeze him too. Hehehe——Didn’t he say he would come in 12 hours? Since he is coming so brazenly, you should give him a surprise. Let him feel what it means to be surrounded by the heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals.]

Chapter 941 Great! Arcadia!

"Finally, I'm the only one left."

【And I】

"Oh yes, and you too."

[One person, one hammer, 199 magic tools, one afternoon - can you create a miracle? ]

"You'll know if you can try it."

In addition to the 199 magical instruments, there was also one that he had just made.

Although it looked very colorful when it was first made, it seems to have calmed down a lot now. If you don’t look closely, you can hardly tell the difference between the one that has been consecrated and the one that has not.

[But being able to show changes in gloss is already a sign of transcendence. By the way, have you tried it yourself? ]

"I'm just about to try it. There are still 199 left. I need to know if this thing is worth it."

He picked up the golden bullet. Somehow, the size and feel of it reminded him of the Wind-Fixing Pill that Sun Wukong had borrowed from Lingji Bodhisattva.

【Will you use it? 】